Nearly a year after a Reader investigation revealed that African-Americans make up two-thirds of the Chicago’s open missing persons cases, and that almost a fourth of all missing persons are black girls between the ages of 11 and 21, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee held a hearing to question police officials on the disparity. CPD deputy chief James Jones, commander Thomas Lemmer, and sergeant Jeffrey Coleman were short on explanations, however, and didn’t seem interested in taking up aldermen on offers of help and resources for the department’s missing persons operations.
The deputy chief did confirm, however, that black youth make up the majority of open missing persons cases in the city, but didn’t offer any insight into what’s causing black youth to go missing at higher rates than their white or Latinx counterparts.
When Sawyer asked the officials whether the police department could use any further resources to help their efforts to find missing persons, sergeant Jeffrey Coleman, who oversees missing persons investigations in Area South, said only that it’s important to communicate to the city’s parents that they must stay aware of their children’s activities and whereabouts.
In the last 24 hours, four teens were reported missing by the police department: Jayda Moore, a 17-year-old African-American girl last seen in South Austin; Gisell Fierros, a 12-year-old Latina girl from Humboldt Park; Brian Llamas, a 15-year-old Latino boy from Belmont Cragin, and Tamera Wright, a 14-year-old African-American girl last seen in Auburn Gresham.
